Glenmorangie 10 Year Old - Original

Glenmorangie distillery is located in Tain in the Northern Highlands and was founded in 1843 when William and John Mathesen applied for a license for a farm distillery called ‘Morangie’. Although rumor has it that whisky distillation in the area took place as early as 1703, the actual production of malt whisky at Glenmorangie did not begin until November 1849. The distillery was rebuilt in 1887 and the Glenmorangie Distillery Company Ltd was founded during the same year. In 1918 the distillery was sold to two partners: MacDonald & Muir Ltd acquired 40%, while the whisky dealer Durham obtained 60%; MacDonald & Muir would take over Durham’s share during the late 1930ies. In 2004 the MacDonald family sold Glenmorangie distillery to Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) in a deal that also included Ardbeg and Glen Moray distilleries. This 10-year old version called ‘The Original’ was first launched in 2007 when it replaced the distillery’s former 10-year old expression.

The nose is lightly malty to begin with. I then got lemon tartness, mint tea, hints of vanilla, as well as sour candy. Pleasant but not great.

The palate is quite light-bodied at the beginning, indeed on the point of becoming watery, however it gains in volume over time. I detected honey and vanilla flavours, together with hints of caramel and coffee.

The finish is of medium length, nutty and malty. Towards the end some light notes of oranges and ginger appear.

I am not a big fan of the nose but there is certainly nothing wrong with this whisky. This is good and solid as an entry level malt and equally good value for money, in my humble opinion.

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